October is ‘National Book Month’….how did I miss that…until now?!
It reminded me that I wanted to share the pictures of my recent trip to the bookstore with you.
Now you’re sitting there with raised eyebrows, thinking…”Yes, and? She’s off her rocker, writing about visiting a store!” Right? 😉
But wait ’til you see the pictures! This is not an ordinary bookstore… it is a four (4!!!) story paradise… well, if you love books, that is!

When you walk in you see this…

Oooohh… I heard the angels sing! 😇
Pretty much everything is displayed cover up, front and center! So you find gems you would normally never know about. Since I am, I admit it, a ‘judge a book by its cover person’, (well, most of the time) it’s a perfect layout. Pretty clever marketing! 😜

3rd floor…

View from the 4th floor

For this pic I had my eyes closed when I stepped to the banister, held out the camera, and snapped the photo! Even looking at it now makes me slightly dizzy.

Now, I wanna add that I always have and always will shop and support small businesses. Nothing beats the personal attention, the charm, and the beautiful displays, so different from store to store! 😍

But this visit to this enormous bookstore was almost like sightseeing. I truly enjoyed it, but I won’t have to go every week!

Speaking of sightseeing…now I should probably mention that this bookstore is at the ‘Country Club Plaza’ in Kansas City. The Plaza is a unique shopping district, built in the 1920s by the J.C.Nicholas Co. It was the first shopping district in the world structured to cater to the automobile. Pretty cool, huh?! This entire shopping area is of Spanish architecture, influenced by the buildings in Seville, Spain, and all of the structures are decorated with imported Mexican tile or lace-like terracotta. The Plaza was completed in 1922, but there have been renovations since then. For instance, in 1977 a major flood caused severe damage to many buildings, and prompted a vast renovation.
Here are some pictures of the beautiful tile decor…

Delightful, isn’t it? 😄

Alrighty…that’s it for today!

Oh, no… wait! One more thing, somewhat related. After that trip, I felt inspired to replenish my bookmark display at the shop. I’ve been making beaded markers, but this time I designed/created a new style. These are made of leather bands with pretty glass charms and beads at either end. Take a look…

Hello and”Good morning/day/evening” to all you lovely, creative chickies out there! 🙋

There is a new, fun affair in town!
If you love to create, but get lonely and bored sitting there all by yourself, lack motivation, and/or wanna learn something new ~ come and join us! 👵👰👸👱👯

Here’s a list of the pretties you can create… I 💟 lists! Hope you do too…
1. Bring your own project! Grab that bag with your knitting, crochet, needlepoint, whatever else you’ve got. We’d love to see it! 😍

Do you?
In case you’re scratching your head, going ‘Do I what?’ let me tell you a little bit about it.
First of all, ‘Kumihimo’ is not even a verb…I use it as such ’cause, while it’s a braiding technique, ‘Do you braid’ is not a very enticing title ~right? You probably would have skipped right over it, and missed out on a nifty new craft! 😉
Kumihimo braids look fancy complicated, but they’re not, trust me! I think it’s easier to do, than remembering the name! 😆
All you need is this doohickey, namely a disc -round or square- with slots. Here’s the round one….
Alrighty… Let’s get started…
1. Pick the material you’d like to use. That can be yarn, floss, ribbon, twine, suede cord – it all depends on what you want to use your braid for, what look you wanna achieve.
2. Measure your material (your chosen fiber needs to be 3x as long as the finished braid)
3. Now cut 8 strands
4. Use all 8 strands to form an overhand knot about 1″ from the end.
5. Push it through the hole in the middle of the disc.
6. To keep your work taut, attach a weight to this end. I filled a small organza bag with coins and tied it to the knot. Like so…

7. Now wrap each strand around the plastic bobbins you got with your disc. Fold the cover over, and the threads are secure, yet easily manageable.
-You can work without the bobbins, but the threads will get tangled, which makes the whole experience very frustrating. Because with tangled threads come ~magically~ knots, lots of unwanted knots… ugh
8. Now thread your strands into the slots… 1 each to the left and right of the black dot.
🌟 …and here are all of the above steps in one photo…

We’re almost done…. honest…and this was the most complicated stuff. From here on out it’s smooth sailing! 😁
9. You can actually start braiding now! Take the thread from the left of the top dot straight down, and secure it next to the thread on the left of the dot on the bottom. Now take the thread from the bottom right straight up.
Turn the disc clockwise, and repeat.
It does take some concentration in the beginning, but after a while you can let your mind wander and dream about beaches, sand, and waves! 😍
10. Round and round you go, and pretty quickly you can see the result of your labor.

Pretty, isn’t it?
When you reach your desired length, use all 8 strands to form an overhand knot, and you’re done.

One more thing…somewhat related. Last Sunday I held the very first ‘Creative Chicks Meeting’ at my store. My friend Dee had a lot of fun learning about Kumihimo, and tried her hands at it..
She plans on pairing a long braided cord with a pretty key pendant for a lanyard style necklace… (psst! Christmas gift! Don’t tell anyone) 😉

Okay, hold on… one more thing. A little ‘secret’ tip… When you have to put your work down, make sure you stop in the middle of Step 9 – meaning, take the left thread down, and step away from the disc….hehehe, sounds dangerous, doesn’t it 😂 It’s not, of course, but it’s potentially scary, if you don’t follow this tip, and forget where you left off. 😱
Now you know to take the thread on the right up, turn and keep going!

I’ve never written tutorials… so I hope this wasn’t too confusing. If you have any questions, need me to clear up a step, please ask. Don’t hesitate! I’m here for you! 😍

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it ~ let me know! 😘
Until next time
Love Tina xoxo